Tall & Urban News

After two decades of debate, the Madrid Nuevo Norte project has finally been given the go-ahead, and promises to entirely transform the Chamartín district of the capital as well as the city’s skyline.

Dubbed Madrid Nuevo Norte, the massive real estate project was formerly known as Operation Chamartín, and was always planned as the next stage of development of the area around Chamartín train station. The project covers some 3.3 million square meters of land and promises to create three new towers.

The development will consist of 348 individual buildings, of which 60 percent will provide office space and business premises; an additional 35 percent will provide over 10,000 new housing units, of which 20 percent will be designated as “affordable housing.”

The project has been modified to ensure that 80 percent of transport needs can be met by public transport, with three new metro stations planned—Centro de Negocios, Fuencarral Sur and Fuencarral Norte—a new bus route, and 15 kilometers of cycle lanes.

“We have put sustainability and sustainable mobility at the forefront,” explained Javier Herreros, one of the architects behind the project, which also involves Ana Riaza and Richard Rogers of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. It will link two new housing developments with a “green corridor,” and will see the redevelopment of Chamartín station, sinking the rail yards below ground and covering  them with a huge park, linking the Plaza de Castilla with Avenida Burgos.

The budget for development is currently set at €7.3 billion (US$8.07 billion) but the plans estimate the project will boost the region’s economy by €18.3 billion, (over US$20 billion) creating more than 240,000 new jobs.

The project, first introduced in 1993, has been mired in political strife with subsequent city administrations battling to get it passed. It was set for approval on two occasions but was delayed both times by events beyond the control of any council.

The first interruption was because of the terrorist attack on four commuter trains in March 2004; the second was in 2008, when the global financial crisis caused Spain’s construction bubble to burst and threatened the economic viability of such a grand project.

Finally, after going through various reincarnations under different mayors and with a thorough reworking by the last City Hall administration under Manuela Carmena, the project was tabled once again. It won approval in a unanimous vote on Monday, July 29, uniting councilors from the Mas Madrid, PP, Ciudadanos, PSOE and Vox parties.

It now has to pass approval by Madrid’s regional government, as the project involves rezoning legislation.

Construction work is scheduled to start in late 2020, and the entire project is estimated to take 24 years to complete. It will be built in three distinct phases, beginning with the station redevelopment and followed by Centro de Negocios (Business Center), Las Tablas; Oeste is slated for completion in 2033; and Malmea-San Roque-Tres Olivos is due to be finished in 2037.

The group behind the project is the developer Distrito Castellana Norte (DCN), which is controlled by the BBVA bank, which has a 75.5 percent stake in the project, and construction conglomerate Grupo San José, with 24.5 percent stake.

So, by 2044, barring any delays, the north of Madrid will have completely transformed and will boast an entirely new skyline.

For more on this story go to The Local.